


You, Me, and Horse

by mikkimikka



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Human, Harem, Horseback Riding, Horses, Human Names, Humor, M/M, episodic, i hate the tagging system, lovino is mafia, mattie is going to come eventually, of course, study abroad
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-26
Updated: 2016-06-04
Packaged: 2018-05-16 11:03:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 19,976
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5826088
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mikkimikka/pseuds/mikkimikka
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Fresh out of high school Alfred F. Jones goes to work on his grandmother's horse farm in Virginia. He didn't realize that it's also been converted into an all male dormitory for international students!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Arrival

_Matt,_

_Hey bro! I made it finally. I've arrived at the plantation and it's just as massive as it was all those years ago. Remember how we used to ride through these amazing pastures on our horses in the summers? I wish you can visit me some time. You won't believe all the crazy that has happened and it's only the first day..._

**Cue music and Hetalia title card...**

The cab pulled up to the beautiful stately brick plantation home. Out stepped Alfred F. Jones, a young man with a backpack slung on his back and a suitcase in one hand. In the other hand he held a paper with a picture of said house on it as well as the address.

He looked at the paper confirming that that place was indeed the same as the one in front of him before nodding to the cab driver who promptly took off.

Heart beating a mile a minute Alfred made his way up the graveled path and observing the beautiful green lands surrounding them. It was his first time in many years back at the family plantation.

The plantation had been in the Jones family for generations. It used to be a tobacco farm during the colonial period and continued to be used as a plantation well past the American civil war. About 50 years ago the family decided to focus more on horses.

There was a reason Alfred was there. His parents were divorced which led him to grow up half the time in Montana and the other times in Washington D.C. He just graduated from high school but failing to get into the university of choice he was having trouble finding the correct path in his life. On the other side his twin brother Matthew was succeeding and got into a good school. Alfred didn't want to live with either of his parents any longer. When his grand mother offered position as the wrangler and stable boy at her plantation house he jumped on the chance. He could do that for a year while he reapplied for schools or whatever he decided to do. The military was looking more promising every day. Marines: the few, the proud.

He felt a shiver of excitement run through him as he looked at the quiet yet quaint building. Thinking of living there was quite daunting he had to admit. His grandmother said there were some people staying in there but they'd keep to himself and he wouldn't have much to manage outside of the horses. There was even people there who would cook! Alfred was thankful for that.

Finally he ambled up the steps and knocked on the massive wood door but there never came any answer. He rang the old fashioned bell and waited once more but upon no response he tried the knob and the door opened. Alfred stepped in.

"Hello? Granny?" he called and his voice echoed in the atrium against the high ceilings.

He set foot into the house and his foot steps fell heavy against the wooden floors.

"Granny? It's me Alfred!"

There was no answer.

"I guess she's not here," figured Alfred as he shrugged. "I better put my stuff in my room."

He ran up the stairs to go into the room he used to share with Matthew in his childhood when they visited. He stepped in and noted it looked much the same as it usually did. He dumped his things and then felt bored.

"I don't remember it being this quiet here back then," mused the youth.

His stomach growled.

"Oh! I guess I'll eat!"

Alfred made his way to the kitchen. There to his surprise he saw quite the assortment of foods on the counter. There was a little bamboo container which he opened up to see contained buns. On the stove was a pot of still warm marinara sauce and another of noodles. On the island there was a trey of assorted cheese, sausage and breads. His stomach only growled louder at the display.

"Holy shit look at all of this amazing food! I didn't realize I was so hungry!" he groaned.

He grabbed a stool and pulled it up to the counter and proceeded to eat. He hadn't eaten since that morning and it was already 3 so being the growing boy he is Alfred ate every single bit of it up. Only a tiny scrap of bread crust on the trey and a smear of sauce were left in the pot after he was finished.

With a burp Alfred pat his stomach and went into the living room where he saw a bunch of video game systems were laying about.

"Huh?" he said. "Granny doesn't like video games."

His face lit up.

"She must have got this for me!"

He jumped onto the couch and turned on the TV only to see that a game was already in session, only it was paused as if someone got up and left it suddenly. It was a racing game and whoever was signed in (tehAwesome9001) was apparently in the middle of a campaign and in 1st place. Sure it was a weird name for his Granny but Alfred decided not to question it too much instead. He began to play. After 10 minute of fierce battle tehAwesome9001's rank dropped into the final spot.

"I'm not used to it yet," gave Alfred as an excuse to no one and then paused it to go find something else to play.

He looked at the titles and found some of his favorites in the mix and couldn't wait to get started with it. However, that's when he remembered that he was supposed to go check on the horses as soon as he arrived.

Alfred left to do that before he got engrossed into anything else. He exited out of the back of the house to head towards the stables. On the way though he noted the tiny garden near the kitchen. It was always there as Granny enjoyed growing her own veggies. However a new addition caught his eye. A row of merry sunflowers pointed joyously towards the sky.

"Huh?" he said. "That's new."

He walked over but tripped on something on the way crushing two of the sunflowers down and bending the stalk.

"Oops!" he said sheepishly standing up and attempting to straighten them. Unfortunately they wouldn't stand as they used to.

"Well at least it wasn't all of them," Alfred muttered as he turned and continued his trek to the horse stalls.

He finally made it and saw the horses were in the corral. When he walked up to the fence a few of the horses approached him and he patted their noses. He counted and they were all accounted for. He went into the stable and saw all of the tack was also in their right places and the stable was actually clean.

He went back to the house and was about to go play the game again when he felt the urge to pee. He had to handle that first so he went to go to the bathroom. Of course, seeing as nobody was in the entire house all day he didn't think to knock.

The door swung open revealing a man who was in a state of half undress. He had just pulled off his shirt, obvious by his mussed up hair, and was in the middle of pulling down his trousers. Blue met green as Alfred and the stranger stared at each other in shock. The stranger was the first to react however.

"Ahhh!" he cried out and threw a nearby bar of soup at Alfred.

Alfred had great reflexes and slammed the door shut in time to block the soap and turned into a run down the hall. The scream sparked the curiosity of another boarder it seemed. As Alfred ran by he didn't noticed the way one of the room doors were opened just a crack and the head of an Asian man poked through.

"Kiku! Help!" came the blonde haired, bushy eyebrow stranger's voice from behind Alfred as he began to make chase.

The head only slipped back into his room without comment.

Alfred continued to run scared for his life.

"Dude! We're both guys! Why are you so angry?" Alfred tried to reason as he slid down the banister.

"This is private property!" went on the man in what Alfred realized was a British accent.

Alfred reached the bottom of the stairs and veered left into the kitchen and was shocked to see two people in there, another man with silky blonde hair and a woman with long dark black hair.

"It's an intruder!" came the British voice from the atrium behind him.

"I'm not a-" Alfred tried to explain holding up his hands but he was cut off.

"Aiya! He ate our food!" the woman protested.

"My cheese!" the Frenchmen exclaimed.

The woman grabbed a wok from nearby and the blonde grabbed the trey and began to chase after Alfred too.

"NO!" Alfred screamed and he turned and proceeded to run out of the back door.

As he did he noticed a very large hulking man bending down and fingering the stalks of the broken sunflowers.

"Ivan! It's an intruder!" the woman alerted him.

Ivan glanced at the doorway and zeroed in on Alfred noticing the yellow sunflower petals that were still stuck to his shirt that hitherto nobody else took note of. A dark aura began to surround him and scared Alfred even more. He turned and began running through the yard of the plantation now with four crazed foreigners chasing after him.

"Granny!" he cried feeling a bit of tears collecting in the corners of his eyes.

He wasn't even looking and ended up careening between a brunette artist and his easel causing the canvas and ain't to go every which way!

"Sorry!" He apologized but wouldn't stop running.

"Ve," said the painter as the Russian, Chinese, British and French people also ran past.

The painter decided to join.

"What's happening?" he asked.

"It's an intruder, Feliciano!" said the British blonde.

"I'm not an intruder!" Alfred shouted back but he kept running forward.

He rounded the front of the house feet pumping frantically against the lush green grass. Finally! He saw before him a car pulling in and he it was his salvation.

"Granny!" he cried out recognizing that blue Ford pickup from all those years ago.

The truck stopped and Alfred collapsed against the hood and the small angry mob surrounded him. The doors to the truck opened and Alfred looked up in glee but his face only fell when he saw the occupants of the vehicle were definitely not people he knew. There were two men, one blonde and the other with shockingly white hair.

"Kesesese, so I see you met our new stable boy," said the white haired man with gleaming red eyes. "Alfred Jones."

**America's voice: "Hetalia!"**

The crew was all assembled in the living room. They all sat on the couches in a semi circle as the white haired man and Alfred stood in front of the TV doing their introduction.

"Sorry about that, Alfred. Your Grandmother told me you'd be arriving this afternoon but Ludwig and I were a bit later than usual coming back with the groceries," apologized the pale man.

"Ah, no big deal, bro," Alfred said trying to downplay how nervous he felt.

"Anyway, time to meet the gang. I'm Gilbert from Germany. I work for your grandmother and I manage this dormitory."

"Dorm...?" Alfred scrunched up his face.

"Yeah, for the past few years your Grandmother has been letting International students from the nearby university stay here. We get to experience countryside life on an American ranch and for cheap too!" explained Gilbert. "But I'm not a student. I just help run the place and help them adjust to life in the states."

Alfred nodded to show he understood.

Gilbert gestured towards the couches, starting at the far left.

"That's my little bro Ludwig. I'm his guardian so he is also not a student at the university. He attends high school here and is 17."

"Hello," Ludwig greeted getting up to shake Alfred's hand.

They shook and then Ludwig sat back down.

"Cool! I'm 18!" beamed Alfred.

"That makes you the second youngest then," Gilbert grinned. He then continued on to the person beside his brother. "Beside him is Feliciano. He studies art but I guess you know that now."

Gilbert gestured to the paint splotches on Alfred's body.

"Yeah," Alfred said. "Sorry, dude."

"This is Yao from China. He studies at the university as a graduate student. He's the oldest."

"He's a dude?" Alfred said shocked. The people were beginning to see he had no filter.

"I'm a man!" scolded Yao. "And you ate all of our buns. That was for dinner."

"Sorry, man," Alfred rubbed the back of his head. "They were super delicious though."

"Well, since you're a growing boy I'll excuse it for today," Yao assented.

Gilbert chuckled, "Don't go easy on him just because he's a kid."

"Don't worry, Gilbert. Ludwig's still the house baby," interrupted Feliciano with a smile.

Ludwig merely looked away with a slight blush.

"Kesesese, next up is... Ivan! From Russia."

"It is nice to meet you. I wonder will you bend as easily as my sunflowers did when you stomped them?" greeted Ivan with a smile that didn't match the strange aura emanating from him.

"Yikes!" Alfred said then whispered to Gilbert. "Am I gonna die?"

"Maybe."

Alfred tried not to let that deflate his spirits. Positive thoughts! Positive thoughts. "So, next is...?"

"Francis Bonnefoy, my sweet American," said the Frenchmen before Gilbert could. "From France."

He jumped up and took Alfred's hand and placed a kiss to the back of it. Alfred pulled his hand back and wiped it on his hoodie.

"Uh, weren't you just trying to kill me with a trey?" he asked.

"Oui, but do not be offended about it. I tend to get swept up in the passion of the moment," Francis replied.

The man beside him stood up and pulled his back down by the back of his blazer.

"Can it, Frog!" he grumbled with a scowl. "I'm Arthur Kirkland. I apologize for my reaction but I do hope you'd knock in the future."

The scowl was still on his face despite it being an apology.

"Uh sure, sorry, man," replied the American teen. "I didn't mean anything by it, really."

"Just don't let it happen again," the Englishman said though the scowl did soften by a little.

Alfred nodded not entirely sure how to take the exchange. Out of all of the people present Alfred felt intrigued about Arthur the most. Of course they all seemed like interesting people but while they all sat with open and accepting body language, even Ivan but Alfred didn't want to think what that could even mean, Arthur looked reserved and closed off, as if there were a wall he had built up already. Alfred didn't think it were fair to already close yourself off without giving someone a chance. Unless of course Arthur was still embarrassed about Alfred seeing him in a state of undress.

"It's OK, dude, relax. It's not like you have anything I haven't seen, Ha Ha Ha!"

"I,idiot!" Arthur said and went beet red. "Just forget it!"

The blonde turned and stomped away leaving a confused Alfred behind.

"Oh, Arthur! Are you embarrassed?" Francis went and chased after him.

"Go away!"

"Heh," Alfred shrugged.

He looked around at the remaining people.

"Hey, wasn't there another guy here?" he asked.

"Like who?" Gilbert asked.

"Well, when I was running away from Arthur after that bathroom incident I could have sworn he had said a name... Key... Keyko or..."

"Oh! Kiku!" Gilbert said. "Yeah, Kiku is from Japan but he basically never comes out of his room ever. He does leave for class and he also likes to take super long baths but other than that nobody really knows about him."

"We want to be friends with Kiku, right Ludwig?" Feliciano said sadly as he looked at the German teen.

"Uh, yes, but we can't force anyone to be our friend," Ludwig said.

Alfred was perplexed.

"Why not?" the loud youth asked. "Why don't we just go in there and make him come out?"

Yao answered, "You can't just do that."

"Yeah? Watch me!"

Alfred turned to march up the stairs but suddenly three people were grabbing onto his arms.

"Don't do it!" Feliciano said.

"You'd be crossing his boundaries!" Ludwig warned.

"We just have to let him do it on his own time!" advised Yao.

Prussia watched with a smile.

"Just listen to them for now. You've already had an exciting day. We don't wanna add the eruption of Kiku to that mix," said the pale German caretaker.

"Ah, right," Alfred said relaxing.

The three let go of him with a sigh.

"Let's get ready for dinner again," said Yao.

Feliciano beamed happily, "Alfred, you have to help us since you ate it all."

"OK!" said Alfred.

Alfred, Feliciano, and Yao disappeared out of the living room to go to the kitchen chattering happily. Gilbert was happy to see it. He loved it when a new tenant got along well with the others. He took a seat on the now mostly free couch between Ivan and Ludwig.

"I should go do my homework," Ludwig said dismissing himself as he left the room.

"Ok," Gilbert said waving him off then turned to Ivan. "How about you Ivan?"

"The house is even more lively now with Alfred, yes?" said the Russian with a smile.

"You can say that again," smiled Gilbert. "And now time to return to my game!"

He turned on the TV only to see that his car, which was in first place was now in last place.

"ALFRED!"

He leaped up to run into the kitchen in anger leaving the smiling Russian behind.

"Much more lively," Ivan sang song.

-to be continued-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> as you can probably already see this is gonna be kinda like Love Hina or a harem genre. If you know how those go. Imagine the anime adaptation of a dating game... yeah one of those! But the genre is Humor and Friendship. A lot of mishaps but no actual pairings in the beginning but a kinda obvious one glaring at you. That's US/UK (which is actually not even my OTP lol). I plan for this to be kinda episodic with each boy also getting their "episode" and time with Alfred but also other hijinks and bonding involved!


	2. English vs Western

_Matt,_

_Hey bro. It's the weekend but I still have to work anyway. Horses never stop pooping after all! But hey it's not all bad. Since there are a ton of people here there are of ton of people to help, right? That isn't the best part though. The best part is having someone to ride with again..._

**_Cue music and Hetalia title card_ **

Alfred was dreaming of pizza and hamburgers most likely. That was Gilbert's best guess. But that was not something that mattered the the white haired German caretaker. No, not at all. Alfred could sleep all he wanted after all of his chores were done.

He barged into the bedroom of the American and was shocked to see that even though the kid only moved in the previous day the place was a complete big sty! The floor was completely littered with clothing and sports equipment. On the bed there were no blankets since the blonde teen had kicked everything clean off. He was dozing off only in his tacky American flag boxers and grey wife beater shirt, nearly suffocating in a pool of his own drool.

Gilbert clucked his tongue and shook his head at the poor sight. Then, without any warning he yelled out at the top of his lungs.

"WAKE UP CALL!"

And with that the man dived onto the bed right on top of Alfred's waiting back.

"AHHH!" Alfred woke with a start to the feeling of Gilbert slamming into his back.

"It's time to get up now! Time for chores!" Gilbert said perched on Alfred's back.

"Chores?" came Alfred's groggy response.

"Yeah, do you think there is such thing as a day off on a farm? Come on!"

Gilbert rocked a bit on the teen's back to get him moving.

"Do I have to?" Alfred buried his head in the pillow.

"We have pancakes," pressed Gilbert.

"Pancakes?" Alfred lifted his head again.

"And eggs, grits, bacon and-"

Alfred hopped up with such quickness Gilbert rolled off the bed. He sat up with a cackle and Alfred took off down the halls in search of the promised delicious breakfast.

_**Prussia's voice: "Hetalia!"** _

After a rather disappointing breakfast of Frosted Flakes and an orange Alfrd begrudgingly made his way to the stables. He was grumbling all the way something that sounded like it could be death threats towards a certain lying caretaker. It was just cruel really, promising a growing boy an awesome breakfast and instead setting a bowl of cold cereal in his face instead. He had half a mind to protest but he still wasn't completely awake either so that would have to wait.

Alfred was marching to the stables dressed in his Wrangler jeans and a red button down western shirt. He had on his cowboy boots and a big buckled belt as well. The look was topped off with his Stetson hat. He knew how to dress the part, having spent much of his time working ranches in Montana during his high school days.

He didn't really think anything of his get up. It was just normal every day wear for him. However, for some of the people, namely the Italian, he was now living with it was amazing. Feliciano watched as Alfred left out the back door from his spot in the garden where he was painting a sad picture of Ivan's broken sunflowers.

"Ve..." he said standing up from his spot and startling Alfred.

"Oh, hey, Feli," greeted the real-life cowboy. "I didn't even notice you there. G'morning."

"G,good morning," Feliciano said with awe in his voice. "What are you doing today?"

"I am going to go take care of the horses," replied the teen stopping for a bit and stuffing his hands in his pockets. He shrugged, "I won't disturb your painting today."

With that Alfred went off to go the stables. Feliciano watched for just a bit before he discarded his paints in favor of following the younger male. He followed at a safe distance and the American didn't seem any wiser as he whistled and began his duties after hanging his hat on a fixture in the barn.

First, observed Feliciano, Alfred began to ready some food for the horses. Most of the horses got hay but there were some who received oats and other grains mixed together as well. There were several times Feliciano had to hide behind something as Alfred turned to see if someone was looking. Perhaps he sensed a presence. But Feliciano didn't want to be seen.

After feeding all of the horses Alfred turned to leave the barn again and Feliciano hid behind a water trough outside of the barn. Alfred went to the corral and Feliciano watched from his hiding place as Alfred started to fiddle with what looked like a pump. Feliciano was so intent on his spying that he didn't notice that he was joined by an audience until a French accented voice spoke into his ear.

"Does Feli like what he sees?"

Feliciano jumped and turned.

"Francis!" he gasped loudly. "Arthur! What are you doing here?"

That caught Alfred's attention and he looked up from the water pump. He squinted against the sun for a moment before his sparkling blue eyes lit up.

"G'morning guys!" he waved.

"Good morning," Arthur returned with a slight wave.

Francis however ran to Alfred's side pulling Feliciano with him.

"What are you three doing here?"

"I don't know about Feliciano," Francis said. "But Arthur wanted to check out the horses and I'm here for morale support."

"Oh," Alfred looked pleased as he glanced at the approaching Arthur. "You ride?"

"A bit," said the British lad modestly. "Though I haven't since moving here. Gilbert was under strict orders by your grandmother that none of us should handle the horses until the wrangler gets here."

"Yeah, it's pretty dangerous," acknowledged Alfred.

"I want to ride the horses!" Feliciano exclaimed throwing his hands in the air. "Do you know spaghetti westerns?"

"Aren't those the American western films that were made in Italy?" asked Francis.

Feliciano nodded enthusiastically.

"Is that why you chose to stay at a ranch here?"

"Yeah! I want to be like John Wayne. Pew!" Feliciano made a gun with his hand and mimed shooting at Alfred.

Alfred winced and grabbed his heart. "You got me."

Feliciano beamed happily.

"If you want we can ride after I finish cleaning the barn," offered Alfred.

"Yes, I want to gallop bareback through the rolling Piedmont and cross through the bubbling Virginian creeks. Don't you think that would be romantic, Arthur?" Francis said nudging the man beside him.

Arthur pulled his arm away, "Well, that wasn't the type of riding I had in mind. But it sounds nice regardless... minus the bareback."

Alfred laughed, "Nobody will be riding bareback. We have enough tack for all of the horses."

"No need for me, I brought my own from home," said Arthur.

"Let me guess, you ride English?" Alfred asked.

"Yes, is that a problem?"

"Dude!" Alfred said. "We're in America! We ride western! None of that prissy English shit."

"Excuse me!" Arthur said getting a bit ruffled. "What did you call it?"

"Ha! Ha! Ha!"

"It's not prissy it's dignified and practiced! You wild Americans don't even have the sense to wear a helmet when you ride! Don't you know horseback riding is the most dangerous sport?"

"Calm down, Man," said Alfred. "A few concussions won't kill you."

"I,idiot!"

"Concussion," Feliciano muttered and then turned to cling to Francis. "I'm scared."

"Aw, don't be scared, Feli," said the American ignoring the still fuming Arthur. "We have helmets lying around the barn if you really want one."

Feliciano let out a sigh of relief.

"Wait, so what's English and what's Western?" the Italian went on to ask.

"Well, since Arthur brought his own saddle and stuff from home he can show you. But first I have to clean the barn," said Alfred.

"I've got a great idea!" interjected Feliciano.

"What is it?" asked Alfred.

"Well, since you and Arthur can both ride, you two should have a rice!"

"A race?" Arthur said. "I don't know-"

"That sounds like a great idea!" Alfred cheered. "It'll be Western vs English."

"I don't know. I mean—"

"Are ya chicken?" Alfred asked bending a bit to taunt the Brit.

"Absolutely not."

"Chicken!" Alfred said again.

"Chicken!" joined in Feliciano.

"I am not a chicken! J,just! It's bloody dangerous is all."

"Chicken," Alfred said once more.

"Fine! I'll race you, you... you insufferable brat!"

"WOOHOO!" Alfred jumped and pumped his arm in the air. "Awesome, man! You won't regret this. Except maybe you will when I cream ya."

He looked smug and too childishly happy that Arthur wanted to punch the look right off his face.

"So when will we do this?" Arthur asked.

"Well, I still have to clean to barn but... if you all help me the faster I can get done and the faster we can ride!"

"OK!" Feliciano agreed.

"I hope this wasn't some scheme to get us to do all of your work," Arthur said.

"No, never," said Alfred flashing a bright smile.

"Scheme?" asked Feliciano with a puzzled expression but his face suddenly lit up. "Oh, I remember the last time someone tried to scheme me my brother gave them a new pair of cement shoes and a one way boat ride in the Chesapeake Bay. Isn't he nice?"

Alfred's smile faltered and Francis leaned in, whispering as an aside, "Feliciano looks cute but he's got mafia connections."

"Noted," said Alfred with a slight sweat. "So let's clean!"

**_Italy's voice: "Hetalia"_ **

The barn was sparkling and clean and the boys were now at the Arena which was just a bit away from the corral. Feliciano and Francis were standing on the outside of the arena looking in as Alfred and Arthur both readied their horses for the main event.

There were two teams, Western and English of course.

"Go Alfred!" cheered Feliciano from the sidelines.

"You traitor," sniffed Arthur. "Haven't you known me longer?"

"Ve, but Alfred's a real cowboy!" Feliciano said simply.

Arthur huffed and turned his back a bit towards the spectators in favor of prepping his horse. He was dressed for English riding with tight fitting white trousers, a dark shirt, riding crop and long black leather riding boots. He had on a black helmet to complete the look.

"Dude, you totally look like a weenie," snickered Alfred. "And Shadow looks like a weenie too with your tiny little saddle on her."

"You clearly don't know anything about horse racing," said the Brit in response. "This saddle is perfectly designed for speed and efficiency."

"Yeah, but you still look dumb."

"You do," agreed Feliciano.

Arthur chose to ignore it and instead focused on Alfred's attire. He was wearing his same western gear: the long sleeved button up shirt, jeans, a gaudy belt, cowboy boots with spurs attached. His horse Spam, a handsome palamino stallion, had a red leather saddle with a huge horn in the front.

"Your attire on the other hand is terrible for racing. You're weighed down by your loose clothing and bulky hat and that saddle is just too big," pointed out the Brit.

"I still look cooler than you," Alfred said.

"For what it's worth I think you both look wonderful," said Francis.

Arthur ignored that as well and went to get on his horse. Alfred did the same.

"Let's race around the barrel and back to the gate, a full loop. First one back wins!" Alfred said leading Spam to the starting point.

Arthur guided Shadow there as well. He never rode her before but she seemed good so far. He had a good feeling on her back. He knew he was at a disadvantage though since Spam was apparently the horse Alfred always rode while at the ranch. Still, he wouldn't lose. His pride as an Englishman was at stake.

"Ok. Are you ready?" Feliciano called. "On your mark... get set... GO!"

And then they were off!

Arthur tried not to focus too much on Alfred but rather on the barrel on the other side of the arena. For a time he could see the flank of Spam in the corner of his eye but within seconds he broke free and the only thing he could see was the white barrel. Victory was basically assured as he guided Shadow around the bend and back towards the other side of the arena. The clopping of her hooves beating against the packed grass was like a victory cheer and then it was finished just as fast as it began.

He turned just in time to see Alfred and his horse at his rear and nothing felt better than that moment. He couldn't wait to gloat about his victory. English vs Western and he won!

"Ha! Did you guys see that! You were on my tail practically the entire time!" Arthur said pointing his crop at his opponent.

He expected Alfred to be a little sore. He seemed like the sore loser type so he wasn't expecting to see instead the look of pure joy and even admiration in those innocent blue eyes.

"Yeah, you and Shadow make quite a pair," admitted the blonde as he hopped off his horse. "She's a great horse and you're a great rider."

Arthur was shocked by the praise. It wasn't what was supposed to happen and he blushed taken aback by it.

"I... yes, I mean," he tried to gather himself.

"Say 'thank you', Arthur," Francis teased from the sidelines.

Arthur blushed harder, "I know what to say you idiot!"

"You were pretty cool, Arthur," commented Feliciano.

"Yeah, pretty cool," Alfred agreed but then he got a mischievous look on his face. "For a weenie!"

"You!" Arthur bristled!

Alfred stuck out his tongue and Arthur hopped off of Shadow blushing now in frustration rather than embarrassment as before. Alfred didn't have to know Arthur long to know what that look meant. He took off into a run.

"Come back here you git!" Arthur called.

He proceeded to chase Alfred around the arena in a fit. Alfred may or may not have been afraid. It was hard to tell, especially with the loud obnoxious laughter coming from him.

"Weenie!"

"I am not a weenie!"

Francis and Feliciano watched from the sidelines their new entertainment.

"Wah, that looks like fun too," Feliciano commented with a wistful sigh.

"Ah, young love," cooed the Frenchman.

"I heard that you bloody Frog!"

"Ha! Ha! Ha!"

_**England's voice: "Hetalia"** _

Gilbert was standing near the barn with his younger brother watching as Arthur chased Alfred around the arena like an idiot. He chuckled to himself and turned to look up at his bigger little brother

"You know Ludwig, Arthur is right. Horseback riding is an extremely dangerous sport."

"Yes, Brother."

"In fact, helmets are a very smart thing to wear to avoid serious injury. Also, racing in an enclosed area, even an arena of this size, should never be done for fun with you and your friend. If you want to compete a safer way would be to individually run the barrel and aim for the best time."

"R,right," Ludwig said. "But why are you telling me this?"

"Oh, it's just the author's way to insert a helpful message and disclaimer on the dangerous activities written about today that should in no way be recreated," Gilbert turned away from his brother to look off into what one would assume was the TV screen. "Remember kids. Safety first here at the ranch"

"Brother, who are you talking to?"

-to be continued-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i promise you this fic won't always be so horse-y. lol thanks for reading!


	3. William J. Smith

_Matt,_

_Dude! Remember how when we were kids we'd get so freaked out that the plantation was haunted. You never actually saw a ghost? Right!? Tell me now Mattie! TELL ME! Because I just heard this crazy story and I'm freaked out!_

**_Cue music and Hetalia title card._ **

Alfred was walking in from cleaning the stables and it was nearing lunch. He pulled off his work gloves and wiped his brow with his wrist when he stopped noticing that although Gilbert was in his usual place on the living room couch he wasn't playing video games. No, instead the pale caretaker was staring intently at the television watching the news.

"Dude, what's up?" he asked crossing his arms. "Is it that interesting?"

"Oh hey Alfred," Gilbert said not taking his eyes from the screen. "It looks like we'll be getting out first hurricane of the season this year."

"Huh, really? That's no big deal. I'll lock the barn up good and make sure the horses have plenty of hay," replied the youth.

That was when Feliciano and Ludwig came in.

"A hurricane?" Feliciano said worry evident in his voice. "Wah,Ludwig! I'm scared! I never been in a hurricane before."

"It's no big deal," Alfred said. "We get em all the time."

"In a house like this we'll be fine," added Ludwig, shaking Feliciano off of his arm.

"I suppose... but sometimes it isn't the weather we should be concerned about," said Gilbert cryptically.

Ludwig knew better than to take the bait. Unfortunately Feliciano and Alfred didn't.

"Concerned? What do you mean?" asked the Italian.

"Yeah dude, come on. Tell us."

"Well, I don't know. Your Grandmother said you might be sensitive to this information seeing as it concerns your family history and all," Gilbert said looking away to hide his massive grin.

"My family? Now you have to tell me!" Alfred said playing into Gilbert's hand easily.

Gilbert theatrically sighed, "Fine I suppose I have no choice but to tell you about..."

Dramatic pause.

"The ghost."

"G,ghost!" Alfred had a look of sheer mortification.

"Yes a ghost. And now sit here children. Come, gather around and let old Gilbert tell you the awesome tale."

"Do we have to?" Ludwig asked unimpressed as the other two slightly older tenants obediently flocked to Gilbert's side.

"Come, Ludwig!" Gilbert beckoned him.

With a resigned sigh Ludwig went and joined the other three on the couch.

"OK, so now let me tell you. It was 1765 in the midst of the civil war..."

"We weren't even independent then," pointed out Alfred.

"1865! Whatever it was that time! Anyway back in that time Alfred, your family was in the Confederate States of America and in this town many a young man enlisted to fight for the confederacy, donning that sad gray uniform to battle against their northern brother. One such young man was William J. Smith. He wasn't older than you are today Alfred. In fact he was the same age of 18."

"A year younger than me!" Feliciano smiled.

"Yes, and he was in love with a girl, a bright girl, Stella Faye Jones, a true southern belle who lived right here on this Plantation. He promised her that after the war he would return and he would marry her and they would live happily ever after."

"Aw, what a nice story!" Feliciano cooed.

"I'm not finished yet! There's more," Gilbert said. "Because there was no happily ever after... only death and sadness. Our poor William J. Smith didn't die a noble death in combat. No, instead he went missing during a routine drill off the Chesapeake Bay, tossed over board like he was a straw dummy."

Alfred commented, "Dude, that sucks."

"It did suck," agreed Gilbert. "But it sucked even more for Miss Stella for it is said that the summer after his death a hurricane hit the area and it blew his soul from the sea to the shore. And where was the first place did the poor soul of William J. Smith go?"

"Uh... the post office?" guessed Alfred.

"No! It was here! To his dear Miss Stella. But she wasn't to be found. She had married one of the other soldiers in his regimen and thus was gone from the house. Confused and lovesick the ghost tried every entrance of the house banging, knocking and wailing in each door and window throughout the entirety of the night but nobody answered."

"Of course they didn't! It's a ghost!" Alfred said, voice up an octave as he clutched a throw pillow to his chest.

"Yes, and every single year since, during every hurricane the poor soul of William J. Smith is brought to shore and here to the plantation he comes knocking on every window... and every door, moaning and wailing... 'Let me in... llllet meee innnn'."

Alfred shrieked and covered his face with the pillow.

"So now don't you see... this hurricane is more than just a storm it's a test from beyond!"

"NOOOOOO!" Alfred ran out of the room and up the stairs leaving behind the pillow.

**_Prussia's voice: "Hetalia"_ **

Fierce winds were blowing outside. Hurricane Edwin was scheduled to hit their tiny burg and the hour was approaching. The entire county was shut down, including the university which meant that all of the tenants had nowhere to be except home. The three youngest members of the household sat together in the kitchen having their breakfast of Fruit Loops and bacon observing the way the wind moved from a nearby window.

"I bet the horses are scared," lamented Feliciano.

Ludwig tried to comfort him, "They have enough food and water in the barn. They'll be safe."

"Dudes!" he interjected startling them with his loud voice. "We should totally build a fort. Me and my bro Matt used to do it all the time when we were kids."

"A fort? How would we do that?" Ludwig asked. "The weather is horrible."

"No outside! Inside. We can make a fort of blankets and pillows! Then we can spend the storm inside of it," suggested the American.

"That sounds fun!" said Feliciano. "Where would we put it?"

"The living room. Let's go get our blankets and pillows and meet back down!" Alfred suggested.

"OK!" chirped the Italian.

The three went to gather their things. Ludwig was more reluctant that the other two but joined in regardless. After a few minutes the three were in the living room with their blankets and pillows. Ludwig had a gray pillow and dark army green blanket. Feliciano's pillow was white and the blanket was as well with blue dots. Alfred had a space themed pillow with a plain blue blanket. What was of interest though was the extra thing he brought down. A stuffed alien toy.

"What's that?" Feliciano asked.

"This is Tony!" Alfred said holding up his toy. "I take him everywhere with me."

"Cute!" Feliciano cooed.

Alfred also brought down the spare blankets that his Granny had on hand and the boys then began to build their fort. Every once in a while someone else from the house would come in and see what they were doing but merely walked away dismissing it as some kid thing. At once point Ivan came and asked to join in but Alfred told him no so the big guy sulked away.

Finally their fort was complete! Alfred, Ludwig and Feliciano stood in front of the TV to admire their creation.

"Wow that looks so cool!" Feliciano said.

"Yeah, I should take a picture to send to my bro!" Alfred said digging out his phone.

He snapped a picture and so did Ludwig and Feliciano.

"Ve, My fratello would like this too!"

After the pictures were taken the three entered their fort situating themselves on the blankets and pillows.

"This is the perfect place to spend a storm," Ludwig said once they were comfortable.

The three were laying stomach down in the fort with their arms crossed over their pillow. Feliciano was in the middle of the two blonds.

"Ain't it!" beamed Alfred. "And we can play video games from here too. We have a perfect view of the TV."

As soon as he said that there was a loud clap of thunder and a brilliant flash of lightening before the house lights flickered a bit and then shut off. The power was out and the place was completely dark. It wasn't night time yet but the storm made the place seem like it. Alfred hugged Tony to his chest and Feliciano clung to Ludwig.

"Wah! The storm is here!" said Feliciano.

"Don't worry! I have it covered," Alfred said producing a flashlight.

He turned it on and flashed it towards the window where they could see the rain falling like sheets.

"I guess that we can't play video games then," said Feliciano letting go of Ludwig.

"I always come prepared."

Alfred proceeded to pull out a PSP from under his pillow. He handed Feliciano the flashlight and turned on the hand held device. It was then that there was a knocking on the door.

"I'll get it!"

Feliciano went to leave the fort but Alfred grabbed him by the back of his shirt pulling him back.

"No! You can't!" Alfred said.

"Why not?"

"I can't let you die! I'm the HERO!"

"Die?" Feliciano looked confused.

"R,remember Gilbert's story... about the... g,ghost?"

"There is no ghost," Ludwig said. "Sorry my brother has a tendency to tell tales."

"No," Alfred shook his head. "I remember when we were young during the storms there would always be a scratching at m window. It was him, William J. Smith."

The door sounded again, louder this time.

"It was probably a branch," said Ludwig reasonably. "And outside right now is probably one of our housemates."

The doorbell began to chime.

"No, because everyone's home. School's canceled today and stores have closed too," rejoined Alfred.

Ludwig sighed and got out of the fort disregarding what Alfred said.

"Coming," he called.

"Ludwig, no!" Feliciano and Alfred called out and ran after him.

Ludwig walked towards the door and the other two scurried after him pleading for him not to answer. The German teen would not have any of it though but before he could get there the ringing stopped.

"They're gone now. You don't have to open it anymore," tried Alfred.

"Ridiculous," Ludwig said and he swung open the door.

There was no one there and for a few seconds the trio peered out into the bleakness of the storm. The winds were blowing branches in the yard and the rain was pelting the ground harshly. Ludwig closed the door. Alfred followed up by locking it, even applying the chain.

"Dude!" Alfred said. "It was the ghost."

"Just because no one was there doesn't mean it was a ghost," Ludwig sighed.

"Then what was it?" Alfred asked.

"Maybe they gave up because we took so long to answer the door," suggested Ludwig.

Alfred shook his head looking pale, "No, it was William J. Smith and you almost let him in."

Suddenly Alfred's eyes widened behind his glasses.

"The back door!"

He ran to the kitchen using his flashlight to guide him. He arrived in time to lock the door. By the time Feliciano and Ludwig arrived inside Alfred was already walking away from it.

"Someone's outside," Feliciano pointed out raising a thin finger.

"Huh?" Alfred turned to look and jumped in the air about three feet at the sound of knocking coming from the door. From the tiny window the grayness of a figure was indeed visible. "I,it's the ghost!"

"But it looks like-" Ludwig began walking towards the back door.

"Ludwig you idiot!" Alfred whisper-screamed.

He grabbed the German by the arm and lugged him out of the room as the knocking began to get louder.

"Let me in!" said a voice that was hard to distinguish as it was distorted by the wind.

"William J. Smith!" Alfred screamed in a high pitch squeal of terror.

He ran back to the living room with Ludwig and Feliciano trailing behind him. He dived back into the fort and didn't speak until the others were back in with him.

"That was a close one! We were almost goners," he said.

"Ve, that ghost looked familiar," noted Feliciano.

"He sounded familiar too," said Ludwig.

"Don't be fooled by his tricks! It's the ghost," Alfred hushed them both.

A tapping sound was suddenly heard and the boys looked towards the source of the sound. The living room window and in it was silhouette cloaked in dark gray and face obscured by a curtain of dark hair. It hit the window again.

"Ghost!" Alfred hopped up and closed the blinds causing an indignant shout to spill out of the figure's mouth.

"Aiyah!"

"It's Yao!" Ludwig said, recognition dawning across his facial features.

"No! It's the ghost pretending to be Yao!" said Alfred.

"You're irrational," Ludwig said. "And illogical. If Yao is here all we have to do is go to his room and we'd find him."

"Everyone is home!" Alfred retorted.

"Then let's go find Yao," offered Ludwig. "So we can prove the ghost isn't him."

"Fine!"

The friends began their journey up the stairs to check on Yao. Alfred was scared and even though he wanted to be the hero he let Ludwig take the flashlight and lead. Ludwig merely shook his head and accepted the flashlight. They went up the creaky stairs that on a normal day weren't creaky but somehow became so just for the storm apparently. When they reached the top the hall was long and dark. The only light was from the flashlight and the tiny grayed window at the end of the wall that was being thrashed by the rain and wind.

Feliciano clung to Ludwig's back and Alfred also walked closely as they walked down the hall in small steps. It felt like the entire place was deserted even though people were home. Yao's room was the last door on the left and the walk felt like it took forever. Finally they knocked on the door.

"Yao?" called Ludwig.

No answer.

"Dude, answer! You're freaking us out," Alfred joined.

Ludwig tried the door knob and the door opened revealing a dark shadowy room. The curtains were drawn pitching the room in black. Ludwig pointed the flashlight in and swept it across the room revealing the place was devoid of any human life.

"He's not here," Feliciano said.

"The ghost got him," Alfred said.

"Alfred," sighed Ludwig. "There is no ghost. The person knocking on the door was Yao."

Suddenly there was a tapping from behind the three in the hall. Alfred's blood ran cold as three words were heard over the howl of the storm.

"Let me in!"

They turned to the window and Alfred screamed as there was the figure rapping on the 2nd story window.

"The ghost can fly!" Alfred shrieked.

"It's just Yao!" Ludwig yelled at the American for the umpteenth time.

"All Chinese people can fly!" said Feliciano. "I saw it on Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon."

He skipped up to the window and opened it up letting in a gush of wind and rain.

"Finally!" came Yao's voice and he crawled into the window.

Apparently he was using a ladder and not flying.

"Dude! What are you doing out now? Don't you know there is a ghost on the loose?"

Ludwig just gave up trying to reason with Alfred any longer.

"I forgot my key and had to work today. The Panda Buffet is open every day including days like this. I brought back food," he held up a water logged plastic bag.

Ludwig took the bag from the Chinese man's cold hands.

"We'll take this down stairs. Sorry we didn't open the door sooner," Ludwig apologized.

"The power's out. This sucks. I wanted a hot bath," said Yao. "I'll change and meet you down there."

He went into his room and the young trio ventured back down the stairs. This time Alfred held the flashlight.

"Man, that was anti-climatic," said the youth with a pout. "I thought there would be a ghost for sure."

All of his original fear seemed to have vanished.

"Really? You seemed scared," Ludwig said.

"Naw, I was just pretending," blushed Alfred.

"Really? You must be an awful good pretender!" noted Feliciano.

"Are you kidding? No ghost couldn't get me. I'm the HERO!"

Ludwig sighed and shook his head but couldn't help the slight smile that came to his lips. Alfred was a strange guy. He was so afraid just moments ago but he bounced back so quickly. Perhaps it was an admirable trait.

"Alfred's really fun isn't he?" said Feliciano as he and Ludwig descended the stairs.

Alfred had already run ahead of them and was bouncing around in the atrium.

"Come on guys! You're so slow!" he shouted up at the two.

Ludwig just chuckled lowly smile still on his lips, "Yeah. I guess he is."

-to be continued-


	4. Chasing Kiku

_Matt,_

_So remember how there's that guy who lives with us but I never actually met? Well, I'm gonna do it, bro. I am gonna meet him whether he wants to meet me or not! Mark my words..._

_**cue Hetalia music and title card** _

"Mail's here!" Gilbert called as he entered the large plantation style home.

He was carrying a giant brown cardboard box that had "Amazon" written across it as well as a bunch of letters balanced carefully on the top.

"Mail!" Feliciano's voice came from upstairs.

The young Italian quickly came skipping down the stairs and stopped in front of Gilbert and plucked out an envelope from out of the mail pile.

"Thank you!"

"Finally!" said Yao coming in from the kitchen. "I have been waiting for this."

Gilbert set the giant box down. Curious as ever Alfred came in from the living room.

"What's this?" asked the American.

"It's just the mail. Were you expecting anything?" asked Gilbert.

Alfred shook his head.

"No, but wow! That's a huge box, dude. Whose junk is that?"

"It's not junk!" said Yao stepping in bending down to clutch the box.

"So I guess that means it's yours?" Alfred asked.

"Yes, it is."

"What could you possibly have gotten that is that big?" Alfred wondered aloud.

"It's not your business," explained Yao.

He picked up the giant box, which was nearly as big as the Chinese man, and turned to begin his struggle up the stairs.

"Do you need help, Yao?" Feliciano offered.

"No, I'm fine I'm- OW!"

Yao tripped up the stairs with the box and Feliciano ran up to help him. Gilbert shook his head and chuckled before turning to the envelopes now in his hands.

"What else is there?" Alfred asked turning again to the groundskeeper.

"By the looks of it mostly bills," said Gilbert. "But there's some personal mail in there too. One for Francis and Kiku's got something too!"

"Let me see that!" Alfred snatched the item from Gilbert and observed the envelope.

It was a puffy bubble mailer. Whatever was inside needed to be protected but it wasn't very big. It was shipped from abroad. Alfred squeezed it and could tell it was a hard box of some sort but it gave a bit in the middle.

"Kiku, huh?" Alfred asked.

It had already been a few weeks since his arrival at the plantation and he had yet to meet their Japanese boarder. It felt weird when he thought about it. There was a lurker in their midst, someone he didn't even know creeping about and sharing their bathroom. The only sign of Kiku's presence was the long baths he took.

Gilbert plucked the parcel from Alfred's hands.

"Welp, I better go deliver this to his room."

Startled Alfred turned to follow Gilbert.

"You don't have to do that. I can just deliver it. I mean, I'm going back upstairs anyway."

"Really?" Gilbert asked.

Alfred nodded and Gilbert handed over the mail with little protest.

"Knock yourself out, kid," said the German and he disappeared into the living room.

'Sweet,' Alfred thought as he looked at the squishy package in his hands. 'This is my chance to meet that guy!'

He ran up the stairs and to the bedrooms. All of the room doors were closed except for the door leading to Yao's room. He tried to remember which room was Kiku's but he actually only knew a few people's rooms.

To the left of the staircase was Alfred's own room sandwiched between the room Arthur and Francis were staying in. Directly across from Alfred was Yao and Ivan was beside him. That left Ludwig, Gilbert, Feliciano and Kiku on the right side of the stairs.

Alfred turned away from the direction of Yao's room and went in the opposite direction excited finally to meet the new guy.

'Well, technically I'm the new guy to him,' thought Alfred.

He finally got to the end of the hall and as he walked for some reason he was getting more nervous with each step. He could practically hear his heart pounding in his ears.

Ba-dump. Ba-dump. Ba-dump.

The door was right there almost in reach. Alfred reached out a shaky hand, curled into a fist for knocking. Then suddenly there was a hand on his shoulder.

"ARGH!" Alfred jumped, causing the package to fly into the air.

He spun around coming face to face with a smiling Russian.

"I,Ivan! You scared the shit out of me!"

Ivan's smile wavered just a bit as a worried expression came across his face.

"I am not smelling anything," said the tall youth.

"It's an expression," growled Alfred, not pleased.

Ivan was not one of Alfred's favorite tenet. Actually, there was a huge chance he was his least favorite tenant despite the fact he didn't even actually meet Kiku yet. Alfred was pretty sure he'd like Kiku more than Ivan at least. Ivan after all was just a bit unnerving and he had a face and smile that made the American want to punch it.

Ivan seemed painfully oblivious to this. He gestured to the parcel in Alfred's arms.

"Is it mail call now?"

"Yeah, and this is Kiku's," Alfred said.

Ivan looked surprised, "Kiku received mail?"

"Yep."

"Was there anything for me?" Ivan asked, expression hopeful.

Alfred shook his head and Ivan's shoulders deflated as he walked off. Now that the Russian was gone Alfred finally turned to knock on the door.

"Kiku?" he called.

There was no answer so he knocked again. After a moment there was a voice.

"Yes?" came the muffled voice perhaps raspy from disuse.

"Hey Dude, I got your mail."

The door opened a crack and a pale hand appeared through the crack. Alfred placed the envelope in the outstretched palm.

"So I'm Alfred the new wrangler. Nice to—"

Before Alfred could say more the hand disappeared into the room and the door was shut again firmly.

"Meet you..."

**_America's voice: "Hetalia"_ **

"You bought a giant stuffed panda?"

Alfred sat in Yao's room cross legged and sulky. The Chinese man sat across from the American. A giant stuffed animal Panda was poking out of the giant Amazon box between them.

"It was cute and on sale!"

"Whatever floats your boat, Dude," the American said. "But I feel like it's watching me."

"Nonsense," Yao replied. "It's just a toy."

"I love it!" Feliciano beamed from beside Alfred.

Yao reached into the box pulling out the plush and hugging it as the other two looked on.

"So cute!" he cooed.

Alfred laughed, "And you say you're not a girl."

Yao glowered, "Liking cute things is not girly! Anyway, why are you even in here?"

"Oh yeah," Alfred said, suddenly having remembered something.

After failing to introduce himself to Kiku he decided to seek Yao's advice on how to get to know their mysterious tenant.

"So, what's the deal with Kiku?"

"What do you mean, 'What's the deal?' He's shy," came Yao's response.

"No, that can't be it, I mean I've been here for a while now and I've never seen him once."

"I've seen him," beamed Feliciano.

"You have?"

Feliciano nodded happily, "He used to come out of his room all of the time during school. But now that we're on summer vacation I never see him anymore."

His shoulders slumped.

"You mean, he doesn't have a part time job or anything?" inquired Alfred.

"He does. He works at The Panda Buffet like I do."

"Ve, but isn't that a Chinese restaurant?" asked Feliciano.

"Yeah, but anyone can work there. Even you. It's an equal opportunity employer," explained the Chinese man.

"You should tell us the next time he works there!" exclaimed Alfred. "That way I can talk to him."

Yao shook his head, "He's too shy to handle the customers so our manager always keeps him in the back doing dishes."

"Then what should I do if I want to meet him?" frowned Alfred.

"I don't know ask Ludwig. He's friends with him?"

"Really?" Alfred's eyes lit up. "Ok! Feli, let's go!"

"OK!" cheered the Italian.

The two young tenants ran out of Yao's room leaving the eldest resident alone.

"Finally, I'm all alone with my cute panda," Yao said turning towards the panda and giving it a squeeze.

The head popped off revealing Ivan inside.

"Hi, Yao," he beamed.

"AHHH!" Yao screamed and fainted from the shock.

**_Russia's voice: "Hetalia"_ **

Ludwig was coming into the house after a long day at his summer program. School was over but he was enrolled in a youth engineering summer program at the local university. He was hungry and without even taking off his backpack he went straight for the kitchen. There he found Feliciano and Alfred seating at the counter making peanut butter and honey sandwiches.

"Ludwig!" cheered Feliciano. "Are you hungry!? Me and Alfred are making an American delicacy."

Ludwig eyed the bread, peanut butter jar and bear shaped container of honey. The ingredients all looked simple enough and delicious. He decided to trust Alfred on this one.

"Sure, I'll have one," he said.

He set his bag down on the stool and went to wash his hands at the sink before eating. He came back to the island that they were preparing the snacks on. Alfred put a half of a sandwich on a plate, along with some carrot sticks and slices of celery and handed it to the German teen.

"Thank you," he said.

"No problem, dude," beamed Alfred. "So listen, since you're here we can start arranging out plan."

"Plan?" Ludwig asked as he picked up the sandwich.

"Yeah, Alfred is sad because he hasn't met Kiku yet. We have to figure out a way to get Kiku to come out so that they can become friends!"

"You can't force people to be your friend," said Ludwig.

"You're friends with Kiku, though. Can't you give me some advice on how to befriend him?" asked the American.

Ludwig contemplated that as he bit into and chewed the sandwich. It was actually pretty good. Alfred and Feliciano also began to eat theirs as well. When Kiku first moved to the US last summer Ludwig and Gilbert were the ones who picked him up from the airport. Since then Kiku was pretty scarce but he had gotten help from Kiku with his physics homework a few times before. They studied in Ludwig's room and conversation rarely went offtopic with the two. Although, one time he did remember Kiku getting excited about video games.

"He likes video games," said Ludwig. "Sometimes he even plays with my brother."

Feliciano and Alfred looked up from their sandwiches interested.

"He comes out of his room for that?" asked Alfred.

Ludwig shook his head, "No, They plays online and use a headset. Recently my brother has been playing 'Legend Wars'. His name is always the same. Maybe Kiku's is too."

"That's genius!" Alfred said standing up and causing a few carrot and celery sticks to scatter off of his plate. "All I have to do is play Legend Wars and meet his character! Then I can meet Kiku!"

"You have to pay to play that game online," said Ludwig.

"Oh," Alfred deflated.

"Why don't we just borrow your big brother's account then, Ludwig."

"I don't know if he'd—"

Alfred perked back up again, "That's perfect! That way Kiku will already feel comfortable talking to us and we can arrange to meet him in real life. He'd think he was meeting Ludwig's bro and actually show up."

"Isn't that a bit dishonest?" asked Ludwig.

"The end justify the means!" Alfred replied. "Now show us to the game!"

Ludwig didn't know if his brother would be happy with them bothering his game. He looked between Feliciano and Alfred and felt pressured by their eager faces.

He sighed, "Fine."

_**Germany's voice: "Hetalia"** _

The trio were seated around Gilbert's laptop in Ludwig's room. They had to sneak Gilbert's laptop out without being noticed and pick a spot nobody would be able to spot them in. Gilbert was in the middle while Alfred and Feliciano were on either side of him as he pulled up the game program.

The screen lit up with fantasy anime drawings and a title screen displaying the name of the game and a login screen. Ludwig typed in "tehawes0me" and a password and was in. As soon as it loaded Gilbert had a message.

Flyingmintbunny: Slacking on the job I see. I thought that you had actual work to do today.

"Oh, already a message!" Alfred said, eyes lighting up.

Ludwig typed a reply.

TehAwesome9001: Hey Minty. I do. Just taking a break

"Is it Kiku?" asked Feliciano.

Ludwig shook his head, "No. That isn't him."

The German right clicked the name and pulled up a profile. "It says the character is female, a black mage."

"That's a dumb name," Alfred said.

"She sounds cute," cooed Feliciano.

Alfred shrugged indifferently, "Do you think she's friends with Kiku?"

flyingmintbunny: Do you want to pvp?

TehAwesome9001: maybe later

"How the heck do we pull up the friends list?" Alfred asked as Ludwig set about pulling up a bunch of menus.

Finally he got it.

The trio leaned forward to read the list of those online:

flyingmintbunny  
mabodofu  
MadeinKorea  
redphoenix  
sexygirl1111

Ludwig didn't know which one was Kiku's.

"Ve, maybe he's sexygirl1111," suggested Feliciano.

Ludwig bristled, "He's not!"

"It's worth a try," Feliciano said with an innocent smile that didn't match his intentions.

"Just ask Minty if Kiku's online," Alfred said.

"Maybe Kiku doesn't go by his real name," replied Ludwig.

"It's worth a try."

Ludwig nodded and began to type.

Tehawesome9001: I'm looking for Kiku

flyingmintbunny: We just got out of a dungeon. We're going to pvp

"If we go to pvp we'll just end up killing Brother's character," Ludwig said.

"This isn't working," sighed Alfred. "Kiku's here but we don't know which one he is... other than not being SexyGirl."

"Or MadeinKorea, obviously. So it has to be either mabo or red," reasoned Ludwig.

Suddenly a new messaged popped up.

Mabodofu: you looking for me? You should have just messaged.

"Yay! Minty! You pulled through for us!" Alfred cheered.

He elbowed Ludwig out of the way and took his seat and began to type, "hey dude!"

He almost pushed enter but Ludwig stopped him.

"You have to sound like my brother," he reminded.

Alfred backspaced and typed, "kesesese" instead.

Mabodofu: The game came in the mail today.

"That's right!" Alfred slapped his fist into his palm. "He did get mail today. I wondered what it was."

"Ask him about it," prodded Felciano.

Tehawesome9001: what game?

Mabodofu: the PSP version of LW.

Tehawesome9001: I want to see it!

"This is perfect guys! If we get Kiku to meet your brother and show the game then really he will meet us!" Alfred said.

Mabodofu: it's only in Japanese.

Tehawesome9001: I still want to see!

Mabodofu: I work tonight but if you come downstairs in 30 minutes I can show you."

Tehawesome9001: awesome!

Alfred cackled madly, as if he were deranged as he typed it.

"I did it! I'm going to meet Kiku!"

"Congratulations," said Ludwig with none of the same enthusiasm.

"But now that you're going to meet Kiku... what are you going to say?"

"Yeah, he might not want to be your friend after discovering that you deceived him," Ludwig pointed out.

There was no reply to either the Italian or the German teen's words.

"Uhm, Alfred?" prodded Ludwig.

But there was no answer as Alfred's eyes were glued to the screen as he fought a crowd of creatures using Gilbert's character. He was a beginner at the game but he seemed to be handling himself well against the spawn.

_**Italy's voice: "Hetalia"** _

Gilbert was sitting on his butt in the living room. He wasn't playing any of his video games however. No, instead he was looking at some paperwork concerning the month's rent for the tenants. He scribbled some notes beside one of the resident's name to indicate that he had already paid his rent.

"I am sorry, Gilbert," said a smooth voice. "Am I interrupting?"

Gilbert looked up from his work at his friend Kiku who stood dressed in a red tracksuit at the doorway.

"Not at all," he said with a grin. "What's up? I see you got the package today."

Kiku nodded and shuffled inside and that was when Gilbert noticed what was in his hand. He hopped up.

"Awesome! The LW game you ordered came in!"

"Y,yeah," Kiku said. "That was what I came down to show you. Just like you asked me to 30 minutes ago."

Gilbert looked confused and it was just then that the three youngest members of the house came into the living room.

"Hello everybody," Kiku greeted politely only to be surprised when Alfred came running up to him and grabbing both of his hands, eyes glowing with feeling.

"Finally!" the American you said. "The LW PSP edition! In my hands at last!"

He snatched the box away from the still shocked Kiku and began observing the box despite not being able to read any of it.

"He became obsessed with that game in only a matter of minutes," said Ludwig in an exasperated tone as he approached.

"Gilbert, you gained one level!" sang Feliciano happily and clapping his hands together.

"W,what?" Kiku was shocked. "That was you three?"

"You were playing my game!? Again!?" Gilbert looked ready to explode but was ignored.

Alfred nodded happily at Kiku and handed him the game again.

"I really wanted to meet you! So I went on Gilbert's game to talk to you but then it ended up the game is wicked cool, Bro! I'm going to install it now."

"Oh," Kiku was taken aback but then smiled shyly. "Well, if you want any pointers on the game I suppose you can ask. I am a big fan."

"Really!? You would? Woohoo!" the American pumped his fist. "Gilbert's a warrior but I think I want to make a gunner. Then we'll have the perfect party with you as our healer and that girl Minty as our black mage!"

America slung his arm over Kiku's shoulder and led him out the room chatting incessantly in his ear. Kiku looked bewildered but listened politely nonetheless. They disappeared out the door leaving Gilbert and the others behind.

"Did he just refer to Arthur as a girl?" Gilbert asked with an arched brow.

"You mean Minty isn't a girl?" frowned Feliciano obviously disappointed. "She sounded cute."

"No, but you can choose to make your avatar a boy or a girl," Gilbert explained and then chuckled. "Well, that will be a funny thing to watch them work out."

"I'm sorry Brother for hacking into your game," Ludwig apologized.

Gilbert shrugged, "Meh, it's fine. Alfred can finally get off our backs about not meeting Kiku plus I got a level out of it. It's a win win."

"I guess so," Ludwig nodded.

Thus, an MMO addict was born.

-to be continued-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> MMO screen names:
> 
> tehawesome9001 = prussia  
> flyingmintbunny = UK  
> mabodofu = japan  
> madeinkorea = s. korea  
> redphoenix = poland  
> sexygirl111 = spam bot, maybe. Who knows. Not a nation though that's for sure.


	5. flyingmintbunny

_Matt,_

_Yo, wassup. I started playing this game because of Kiku and Gilbert called Legend Wars. It's pretty awesome. There's also this really nice girl on there too that they know. A black mage named flyingmintbunny..._

**cue Hetalia title card and music**

"Where's Alfred?"

Francis' voice was heard over the munching of multiple different meals around the kitchen table one fine Saturday morning.

"You're right! He's normally so loud every morning but lately it's been so quiet," noted Yao in response.

"Hah, I don't mind," said Arthur setting down his empty teacup. "That gives me more reason to enjoy my day off in peace."

The British student stood and left the room laughing all the way as Ludwig frowned at the left behind cup and plate.

"Ve, but I miss Alfred," Feliciano said drawing everyone's attention back towards the topic at hand.

He, Francis, Yao and Ludwig were left at the table after Arthur's departure.

"What do you think he's been up to?" Francis asked. "After feeding and tending to the horses he disappears."

Ludwig and Feliciano sent each other knowing glances, but the pair kept quiet choosing instead to finish their breakfasts. After finishing Yao stood up and offered to wash the dishes. It was graciously accepted and Ludwig and Feliciano decided to go out into the garden.

They exited from the backdoor. Feliciano picked up a round pebble out of boredom and flung it as far as he could, shielding his eyes to watch against the sun. He and Ludwig continued further into the yard and made it to the main part of the garden where they sat down (Feliciano flopped) onto an old stone bench.

"I'm bored. What did we used to do around here before Alfred came?" Feliciano muttered.

"Well, at that time we were both attending school. But it's summer vacation now so we have quite a bit more time," Ludwig replied.

Feliciano hunched forward and rested his elbows on his knees.

"He's so busy playing that game with Kiku and your brother," he lamented. "But I wanted to ride horses."

"I want to ride horses too!" a voice piped into the conversation from seemingly nowhere as a shadow was cast from behind them on the bench causing the Italian to jump.

"Ivan!" he said upon seeing who was now standing behind him and Ludwig. "H,how long have you been there?"

Ivan just smiled, "Are we riding horses now?"

The tall Russian had a straw hat on that was obscuring most of his features in shadows but for his smile. He had on a light jacket, work gloves and was even holding a trowel obviously having been working in the garden.

"I wish we could," Feliciano replied. "But Alfred's busy playing his game."

"We could always ask him to teach us now. I doubt he wouldn't be able to make time if he's only playing the game," Ludwig suggested while also hoping that Alfred was better at tearing himself away from that thing than Gilbert and Kiku both.

"And if asking doesn't help we always have this," Ivan added helpfully, dropping his trowel and producing a pipe from seemingly thin air.

Felciano quaked and clung to Ludwig's arm as the larger teen raised his hands in order to placate the Russian.

"I am sure that won't be necessary."

**Russia's voice: "Hetalia"**

Alfred was sitting at his desk, an open half eaten pack of Pop Tarts beside his hand on the desk. He was staring intently at his computer screen, on which was displayed the game Legend Wars. Ever since learning about it from Gilbert and Kiku it was safe to say he was addicted.

Oh and of course there was that girl...

flyingmintbunny: I'm back!

rodeotacos : wb.

flyingmintbunny: Thank you :)

Alfred smiled at the little smiley face. He didn't know anything about flyingmintbunny but damn, her avatar was so cute and going on raids, pvp and farming items with her was fun.

flyingmintbunny: I went to get breakfast.

rodeotacos: i'm eating poptarts

flyingmintbunny: Oh dear. I think you should eat something with a bit more value than those cardboard blocks.

Rodeotacos: naw i'm good. Hey you wanna farm runes?

flyingmintbunny: OK. We can do it until Mabo signs in.

flyingmintbunny: We're going to raid Red Foot today with some others.

rodeotacos: can I come!?

flyingmintbunny: Your level is not high enough to access that dungeon yet.

rodeotacos: ;~;

flyingmintbunny: But don't worry! I'll stay with you until then. Let's go.

The pair went off to the volcanic area where they could easily farm runes off of the animals. As they started their task they chatted a bit. Flyingmintbunny was talking about how happy she was that her obnoxious housemate was actually quiet for a change.

rodeotacos: You don't like her?

flyingmintbunny: It's not that I don't like them. Just, my room is right below the yard and he's constantly out there yelling about something.

rodeotacos: Sounds fun!

Suddenly there was knocking at Alfred's door. He didn't remove his eyes from the screen and was attacking a monster when he yelled, "Who is it?"

"It's me!" came an Italian accented voice through the wood of the door.

Alfred cursed to himself as he sustained a critical hit from his enemy.

rodeotacos: Minty! Heal!

flyingmintbunny's cute avatar came running over and cast a mild healing spell. Her character was a black mage so she only had the most basic healing spell available.

rodeotacos: Thanks! I owe you one.

The knocking came again and Alfred's answer was delayed by a few seconds as he finished off the enemy and collected the dropped rune.

"Come in!" he yelled.

rodeotacos: I have a rune!

flyingmintbunny: Already? You must have good luck.

"Hey Alfred!" Feliciano came flying in and draped himself over Alfred's shoulders. "I knew it! You're playing the game. Come play with us!"

"Sorry Feli, I'm busy collecting runes," was Alfred's reply.

He didn't even take his eyes from the screen. If he did he would see that both Ludwig and Ivan also trooped into his room after his Italian friend.

"Alfred, if you get too addicted to this game you're going to end up a loser with no friends," Ivan said.

The sound of his singular voice got Alfred's attention and he whipped around in his chair quickly.

"You mean like you?" he asked with a glare.

Ivan smiled and cocked his head, "No, like Kiku."

"You take that back! Kiku's awesome! And besides I do have friends," Alfred turned and pointed at the screen. "In the game."

The three foreign students crowded around Alfred's desk to peer at his computer monitor.

flyingmintbunny: Are you going to be online all day? Maybe we can meet up again after the dungeon run.

Alfred started to type his response.

rodeotacos: Sure! I finished all my housework for today so I'm good. And I have an entire box of pop tarts and some mt dew hahaha ;)

flyingmintbunny: Please get something proper in that belly after we finish this.

"Ooooh," cooed Feliciano. "That's Minty!"

"Yeah," Alfred said as he made his character pick up some gold loot. "She's been helping me level up fast in the game!"

"So this is your little friend, huh?" Ivan leaned closer to the screen causing Alfred to shudder from the proximity.

"Yeah, isn't she cute," Alfred said putting on a goofy smile.

Feliciano was quick about these types of things and picked up on it right away, "Alfred has a crush!"

"N,no, what are you saying?" stammered the teen. "I don't have a crush. I don't even know her."

"But you could know her if you wanted to," beamed Feliciano.

"Feliciano, don't give him any ideas. She's just a person on the game!" Ludwig tried to reason.

"Yeah, but that also means she is a real person just like Alfred, Gilbert and Kiku are," rebutted Feliciano.

"If I play this game will I make friends too?" Ivan asked suddenly sounding earnest.

He was ignored.

"What do you know about talking to girls, huh?" Alfred asked Feliciano looking skeptical.

"I know lots about girls," smiled Feliciano. "I love ladies! All of the ladies in the world are beautiful and I want to love them all."

"You had a girlfriend before?" Alfred still looked unconvinced.

"Of course I have! Hasn't everyone? I have had a ton! Calandra, Bianca, Gisela, Sonia," the Italian started counting on his fingers.

"Wow amazing, Feliciano!" Alfred gasped and stood grabbing his hands and ceasing the shorter male's counting. "Teach me your master ways!"

"OK!" Feliciano beamed.

"W,wait," Ludwig chimed in once again trying to be the voice of reason. "You don't even know this girl at all."

"That's the point," Alfred said. "I want to get to know her!"

"Do you even know how old she is or what she looks like?" asked Ludwig.

"It doesn't matter," cooed Feliciano. "All women are beautiful!"

Alfred turned back to his screen and saw his character was dead surrounded by a swarm of monsters Minty was highhandedly fighting off.

"NO! I died!"

He clicked the re-spawn button.

"Don't worry about that," said Feliciano. "Now is the chance for you to say you have to go away!"

"But why?" asked Alfred.

"To do our homework of course! We need to find out everything about flyingmintbunny so you can win her over," answered Feliciano.

"Weren't we here to ride horses?" Ludwig cut in.

Ivan agreed, brandishing his pipe 'just in case'.

"You don't want Alfred to find love, Ludwig?" Felciano frowned.

"I, I don't need to find love," protested Alfred.

He looked back at his screen.

flyingmintbunny: Mabo's online now so I'll see you later.

rodeotacos: k, cya.

"OK! Time to go ask Gilbert about Minty!"

"W,wait, NO!"

Alfred spun in his chair but it was too late. Feliciano had already run out of the door.

**Italy's voice: "Hetalia"**

"So let me get this straight?" Gilbert said looking at trio (plus Ivan who was still tagging along).

He was seated at the table with sausage, a boiled egg and a cup of cocoa.

"You," he gestured with his fork that had a hunk of sausage on the end to Alfred. "Have a crush on Minty?"

"It's not a crush!" Alfred protested loudly. "But since we've come this far, I am a little curious."

"He thinks she's cute!" said Feliciano excitedly.

Gilbert threw his head back and slapped his face as he started laughing.

"Oh man this is rich! So rich!" the German caretaker said.

Ludwig protested, "Brother!"

"So, do you want to know about Minty?" Gilbert asked, finally ceasing his laughter and looking pointedly at Alfred.

"Of course I do, dude. Do you mean you know her?" Alfred said, curiosity piqued.

"Well of course I do. Minty and I been playing together forever. Kiku too," Gilbert replied with a wide grin.

"Then tell us!"

"I am curious too," Feliciano said. "Is she really cute?"

"She's not my type," Gilbert said with a shrug.

"What do you mean? She's really cool, Bro. Like... she helped me with a bunch of quests and she power leveled me-"

"You leech," snorted Gilbert into his cup of cocoa.

"-She's super mature and smart. She never typos even when in the middle of a battle-"

Gilbert seemed to be even more amused as if that were even possible.

"-And she has a sweet sense of humor. A bit sarcastic but still, pretty chill."

"Wow, sounds like you got it really bad for her, huh?"

"She's pretty cool," said Alfred.

"Well, OK. I'll tell you about her then. I'll even tell you her name."

"OK!"

"But come closer and I'll whisper it in your ear."

Alfred stepped closer and Gilbert stood up to whisper the name.

**Prussia's voice: "Hetalia!"**

"ARTHUR KIRKLAND!"

The door to Arthur's room slammed open causing the single occupant seated at the desk to jump up in surprise. He turned sending a shocked look at the person in the doorway.

"Alfred what the-"

He didn't get a chance to finish as the deranged American teen came stomping over and grabbing him by the collar.

"ARTHUR KIRKLAND! Please don't tell me your name is Arthur Kirkland?"

"What the bloody hell are you talking about?" Arthur said pulling away from Alfred's strong grasp. "You know what my name is, and you're ruining my shirt."

"NO!" Alfred's face dropped. "No. It can't be... you're you're..."

He looked past Arthur's confused yet a bit angry face at the computer screen behind him and saw Legend Wars open and there the character on screen was flyingmintbunny in all her cute glory.

"Nooooooooooo!"

"What the heck!? You better have a good explanation for this, you git!"

"You're Minty!?"

It was then that Ludwig, Ivan and Feliciano came trooping into the room after Alfred had basically flew out of the kitchen.

"Yes, I am. What's the big deal?"

"I'm rodeotacos."

Arthur's bushy eyebrows bunched in confusion before realization dawned upon his features.

"Ah," he said.

"And Alfred thought you were cute!" Feliciano beamed.

"I didn't know it was him!" Alfred pointed at Arthur trying to defend himself.

Arthur bristled though a blush spread on his cheeks, "Hey! Why are you blaming me?"

"He said you were funny, sweet, and-"

"Feli, NO!" Alfred dived forward and covered the Italian's mouth with his hand. "Arthur don't listen to him!"

Arthur blushed further.

"I,it's OK. You didn't know. It was an h,honest mistake," Arthur said crossing his arms awkwardly in front of him.

His eyes were looking everywhere but at Alfred.

"I mean, I didn't know your gunner was you either so, we're even... I suppose."

"Yeah," Alfred agreed letting his hand slip down from Feliciano's face but keeping him in a hold.

"But isn't it funny?" Ivan finally said, butting his way into the conversation. "You two argue all of the time in real life."

"You're right!" Feliciano agreed.

"Ah!" Ivan's face lit up. "That must mean Alfred and Arthur must really secretly like each other after all!"

"Nu-uh!"

"That's ridiculous!"

The two protested in unison. They looked at each other and upon making eye contact promptly looked away.

"Well, it's not like I hate him," Alfred finally said.

Arthur was shocked at the admission and looked back at Alfred again eyes wide and face a very hot shade of pink.

"ANYWAY!" the American said changing the subject just as quickly again, always one to bounce back from situations. "Didn't you guys wanna ride horses or something?"

He looked at Ludwig and the others and then gestured towards the door. He started to head out and the three intruders followed behind him chattering happily.

"Yay! Horses!" Feliciano said jumping up and down.

"I want to enjoying my American style summer," Ivan joined.

"That seems like a good way to finish up the morning," Ludwig agreed.

Feliciano cheered, "It was fun though! Alfred was so embarrassed."

"Hey! I wasn't!"

"It was very amusing to see your flustered face," stated Ivan.

"I was not!"

The door shut behind them leaving Arthur alone once again. He slumped into his seat and turned around slowly to reface his screen still a bit stunned by the revelations of the day.

**England's voice: "Hetalia"**

Mabodofu the fierce warrior was battling a mob of baby dragons and icicle monsters in the dungeon. He was completely surrounded. No matter where he looked there were monsters.

"I have no choice but to slash my way forward. Minty, cover me with your area of effect," he said with a powerful slash of his sword.

Bit and pieces of ice flew threw the air as he hit the crystalline body of a monster. He looked to his side for his friend and her expected magical attack but was met with nothing.

"Minty?"

She was nowhere to be found. Mabo spun around slashing through the chest of a baby dragon only to be caught from behind by an icicle in the back.

"Agh!" he screamed.

The monsters all ganged up on him and began beating him down. The warrior fell the ground on his knees. Meters away sat an AFK black mage, crouching in her mint colored dress, her blond twin tails falling over her delicate exposed shoulders. Traumatized, she sucked her thumb.

-to be continued-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so much usuk omgggg sorry >


	6. Beach Day

_Matt,_

_We're balls deep in summer and the only thing I want is a nice swim. I hope you're having some summer fun. I know I am..._

**Cue Hetalia title card and music**

The back door swung open revealing an over enthusiastic German dressed in a pair of green and yellow swimming trunks and a clear blue inner tube around his waist. Snorkeling goggles were perched on his head. His less than enthusiastic younger brother, fully clothes in jeans and a t-shirt, was behind him.

"Look alive folks! We're going to the beach!" announced Gilbert to a crowd of one.

Yao looked up from his kindle and sent a tired glance at the intruder on his quiet time.

"Nobody's here."

"What do you mean 'nobody's here?'" asked Gilbert looking a bit put out.

"Exactly what I said. They've all gone out," Yao explained shifting his gaze back to his electronic reader. "We do have lives, you know."

"How could they have all gone out? What do you mean? How could this be? My awesome plan is ruined."

Gilbert muttered something in disgruntled German that Yao assumed was a complaint about how unawesome everyone was to be busy with other plans. He trudged further into the kitchen and stopped in front of the refrigerator where there was a dry erase board hanging. He picked up the pen and wrote a message.

"Mandatory house meeting tomorrow in the living room at 8AM! NO EXCEPTIONS! Including you, Kiku."

"There, that will make them come," Gilbert said replacing the pen back in its original space.

He padded out of the kitchen with his silly webbed feet as Ludwig looked on shaking his head with a sigh.

The next day there was a buzz of chatter in the room as the house's occupants all gathered together. The group were all confused about what could possibly be the meaning of their meeting. That is everyone except Yao. He knew but he didn't tell anyone, and he didn't have to because that was the time when once again Gilbert came barging into the room still dressed in the same clothes he was wearing the previous morning.

"Look alive folks! We're going to the beach!" he cheered as Ludwig sighed behind him.

"Aiyah!" China stood and hit him in the head with his wok. "At least don't use the same intro twice!"

"Brother!" gasped Ludwig jumping back to avoid the wok himself.

"Uggh," Gilbert fell to the ground. "But they hadn't seen it yet."

"You look ridiculous!" Yao said.

Gilbert got up and rubbed the place he was hit.

"Don't tell me this is what you called us all in here for," frowned Arthur with his arms crossed.

"Well, yeah I did," Gilbert said. "It's the summer!"

"Well when were you thinking to go? You can't seriously mean now do you?" the British student was eyeing Gilbert's state of dress.

"Kesesese, of course I do!"

Immediately everyone began to speak at once.

"But I have to go to work!" Yao protested.

"No you don't," Gilbert grinned. "I called out for you."

"WHAT!?"

"And I have a date I would be a fool to miss," said Francis.

"I called out for you on that too."

Kiku also spoke, "I have to respectfully reject this invitation, Gilbert, as I have a dungeon raid at noon."

"Don't worry, I alerted our guild members of your hiatus."

"Well, I guess you covered all the bases then," Kiku said though he looked a bit saddened by it.

Alfred suddenly threw his arm over Kiku's shoulder surprising the older male.

"Aw, don't worry, Kiku! We're going to have tons of fun. It's going to be great!" grinned the American teen.

"Yay! Beach!" Feliciano cheered throwing his arms in the air.

He hopped up and ran over to hug Ludwig.

"Ve, aren't you excited, Ludwig? It's our first outing with everybody!"

"I guess," said the German teen.

"I can't wait to show you all the cool things on the boardwalk," Alfred beamed with a thumbs up sign.

"Dear Arthur, I hope you have a suitable swimsuit for our excursion," Francis teased.

"Worry about your own swimsuit, Frog!"

"I guess I should make some things for our lunch then," Yao said giving in as well.

"I'll help you pack the lunch, Yao," offered Ivan as he followed Yao out of the room.

"I knew you'd all see how awesome my idea is!" Gilbert grinned toothily.

He was pleased.

**Prussia's voice: "Hetalia"**

"YAHOOOO!"

Alfred's loud cheer was heard as the residents of the plantation made their way from the car down to the sandy beach. Alfred was running ahead of them with Feliciano right on his heels. Gilbert grinned as he watched. He and Ludwig were carrying supplies for the beach as was everyone else. Yao and Ivan had a large blue cooler between them. Each held a handle in one hand. Francis and Arthur also had their hands full.

Down on the sand Alfred and Feliciano turned and waved up their friends.

"Hey slow pokes! Any time now," yelled Alfred with a hand cupped at one mouth.

"You could have given us a hand!" grumbled Arthur, though it wasn't loud enough for the American teen to hear.

"Ha! Ha! Ha!"

Arthur sighed.

"Last one there is a rotten egg!" Gilbet said.

"Wait, but I can't run with this," protested Arthur holding up his bag.

"Or with this!" agreed Yao.

"Too bad!" Gilbert cackled and he took off running on the boardwalk and down the stairs into the sand.

"B,brother!" called out Ludwig taking after his older brother.

"I'm no rotten egg! Only the best for someone as beautiful as me!" chimed in Francis shouldering his beach bag and following along.

"Shall we go, Yao?"asked Ivan.

Without waiting for the Chinese man's reply Ivan set down the cooler, placed Yao on top of it and then hoisted it up.

"Ahh! Ivan! Let me down!" screamed Yao as Ivan began running towards the beach.

He wrapped his arms around Ivan's neck. Ivan didn't listen however and only kept running catching up with the others.

"H,hey!" Arthur of course followed.

The crew made it down to the place in the sand that Alfred and Feliciano picked out.

"About time," Alfred said.

Ivan set the cooler and Yao down on the sand next to where Gilbert starting spreading his towel. Francis and Arthur were the last to arrive.

"I suppose Francis and Arthur are the eggs who are rotten," said Ivan with a smile.

Yao stood up on wobbly legs.

"Aiyah!" He hit Ivan on the shoulder. "Don't do that again!"

"It was fun!" beamed the Russian.

Everyone got to work unpacking their gear. There were beach towels and two huge umbrellas that were set up side by side. Once everything was set up Kiku zipped up his white summer hoodie and plopped down on the blanket. Of course he was joined by Alfred he plopped down beside him and threw his arm over his shoulder.

"Hey Kiku! What should we do first, huh? How about swimming?" Alfred asked eagerly.

"Uh... well," began Kiku.

"And why do you have that jacket on! Come on dude! You gotta get tanned and ripped like me!"

Alfred proceeded to grab Kiku and try to tug the jacket off causing the Japanese student to yelp.

"I am sorry!" apologized Kiku though for what nobody knew.

Arthur rolled his eyes and grabbed Alfred by the ear and pulled him away.

"Can't you stop bothering others for one second?" he scolded.

Alfred blinked and looked at Arthur, "Huh? Would you rather I bother you then?"

Arthur frowned, "I implied no such thing."

Francis laughed and popped up from behind Arthur, "That's not what you said the other day."

Arthur jumped and turned to Francis angrily, "Damn Frog! Don't you go and implant idiotic ideas in the boy's head!"

He knocked Francis head into the sand.

"Huh?" Alfred had a clueless expression. "What happened the other day?"

The British man turned back to Alfred and huffed, "Nothing! Francis just has the strangest sense of humor."

"Oh I see!" beamed Alfred brightly as Francis got up coughing out a mouthful of sand.

**England's voice: "Hetalia!"**

"Kesesese! Guys look what I have!"

It was later and the group of residents had all scattered off in smaller groups to do their own thing. One such group was Gilbert, Yao and Ivan. The trio were walking along the beach collecting shells. Ivan was sticking fairly close to Yao but Gilbert ventured off further, every so often coming back to show off his newest find.

The German reached where Yao was currently bent over inspecting some drift wood. Yao looked up. His visor successfully shielded his eyes from the sun's rays but also made him look like a granny.

"What is it?" Yao asked.

"I found this perfect sand dollar!"

Gilbert held his hand out showing the round shell.

"Ah!" Yao was surprised. "That's cool!"

"It was over on that rocky bank down there," Gilbert pointed a bit off in the distance. "There are a bunch of awesome things."

"That's really nice, Gilbert," Yao said earnestly.

"I can find something nice too, Yao!" Ivan said coming back eager to please. "See."

Ivan held up a scallop shell.

"Pssh! That's nothing!" Gilbert scoffed.

"Oh yeah? I bet I could find something even better!"

"And I can find one even more awesome than whatever you're going to find!"

"I'm sure you can both find something nice," said Yao but his words weren't heard as Gilbert and Ivan ran off to find shells.

Ivan was motivated by his desire to please Yao. Gilbert just wanted to be awesome.

Eventually the two came back with shells. First, Gilbert came back with a knobbed whelk. It was quite huge! But then Ivan had one even bigger. The competition became more fierce with each item brought back.

"Yao, look at my conch!" Gilbert tossed Yao another large shell. This one many times larger than the others.

Yao caught it but almost dropped it when Ivan popped up and put a shell to Yao's ear for him to listen.

"Listen to mine!" he said.

Yao shrieked in surprise when he noticed that the creature was still inside and moving.

This kept going on and on until they weren't even shells anymore! Gilbert shoved a live starfish at Yao's face.

"Isn't this awesome?"

"Uh... I-"

"Yao!"

At that time Ivan came running forward with a huge sea creature grasped in both of his hands.

"Look at mine!" he cooed happily as he waved the likely annoyed horseshoe crab around.

He reached the others and shoved he creature towards Yao. It almost stabbed him with the long horn.

"Ahh!" Yao fell back into the sand and the now large pile of shells that surrounded him.

"Are you OK?!" Gilbert asked.

Yao rubbed his spine, which was stabbed by the edge of a shell, and then looked up at Gilbert and Ivan's concerned faces. Collecting shells was supposed to be a quit activity and yet-

"AIYAHHH!" erupted the Chinese man. "I had it with you two! I'm going to go do something else!"

He stood up and turned tail and stomped off leaving behind all the shells that were gathered for him.

**China's voice: "Hetalia"**

"Ve, are you sure this is safe?" Feliciano asked as Alfred started putting more sand back into the hole.

He had helped Alfred dig a huge hole into the sand and was coaxed into it. It was all fun and games until Alfred started filling the hole back in with him still inside of it. Only his head was going to be poking out.

"Don't worry! I used to do it to my brother all the time when we were kids," assured Alfred.

"My fratello never did this to me," reflected Feliciano as he sat still and Alfred continued to fill in the hole. "Although maybe he would find it fun too."

After a time the sand was gradually replaced and Feliciano could barely move his body. It felt weird.

"AIYAHHH!" Yao's voice was heard in the distance.

"I wonder what that's about," Alfred said looking up from his task.

"I dunno," Feliciano shrugged, or at least tried to.

"I'm gonna go check it out! He might need help! I'm the hero!"

Without another word Alfred ran off leaving Feliciano in the sand.

"Huh?" Feliciano was confused.

He looked around. But there was nothing to be seen but sand and the incoming waves of the sea.

Italy's voice: "Hetalia"

Ludwig, Francis and Arthur were standing near the beach towels. They had a flying disk and wanted to play a game. They looked around for another person so it could be two to a team.

They spotted Kiku sitting on the beach towel under the umbrella.

"Hey, Kiku!" waved Arthur. "Did you want to play?"

"We need a 4th man," explained Ludwig.

"OK," said Kiku.

He stood and joined the others.

"We'll toss it. If you drop it point goes to the other team," explained Ludwig. "Kiku you're with me."

The four put some room between them and then Ludwig tossed the Frisbee. It soared across the sky and Francis ran after it. He jumped up and caught it in his hand, twisting his body and flinging it towards Kiku. Kiku caught it with surprising ease and sent it flying towards Arthur. The unruly blond went running backwards with his eye trained at the incoming object that he didn't realize that someone else was running towards him until the disk was snatched out of the air.

"Alfred you... that was mine!" he cried.

"Sorry," apologized Alfred half heartedly and handed the green Frisbee back to him. "Can I join?"

Ludwig came jogging over, "We already have 2 on 2. We'd need a 6th man."

"Aw," Alfred actually looked crestfallen.

"I can let you take my place," offered Kiku from where he stood a bit away from them.

"No. It's OK. You stay in," said Alfred. "In fact, I was doing something but I... I can't seem to remember what."

Alfred sheepishly rubbed the back of his head.

Suddenly Ivan and Gilbert approached and Alfred perked up, "Oh hey you two! Either of you up for Frisbee?"

"I'm actually feeling like a swim," Gilbert said stretching his arms over him. "Collecting shells made me hotter than I thought it would."

Alfred looked imploringly at Ivan who ended up deciding to play. The American cheered effectively forgetting all about everything that he was originally doing before stumbling across the game.

**America's voice : "Hetalia!"**

The sun began to set and the tide started to come in. The sea was darkening paving way for the upcoming onslaught of nightfall and stars. Yao smiled as he gazed upon the scenery and noted the lone naval vessel on the horizon. He brushed back some of the hair blown into his eyes by the wind and turned his head to stare at the Virginia Beach skyline. The orange sun rested atop a low rise hotel like a fiery cherry on a sundae.

He let out a wistful sigh. It was nice to get out the house and have a day off and away from the hustle and bustle of the kitchen. Perhaps Gilbert was right to suggest it. Plus, after he escaped from Gilbert and Ivan's little pissing contest he got to truly be alone for the first time in a very long time.

Content, Yao continued down the sandy beach staring at the beautiful feast for his eyes all around him. He thought of everything in his life at the moment from his colleagues at work and school and his house mates. His mind eventually fell to thinking about the strangeness that was Ivan.

Yao was many things but clueless and unobservant wasn't one of them. He was a finance and economics student. Though he worked at a restaurant in the states, back in China he had been an analyst for a short time. He was a man of numbers through and through and being in that field needed a discerning eye. On top of that, he was an older brother and had many siblings.

Because of these factors he knew that his relationship with Ivan – who he first regarded as a housemate then later as pesky junior- was dissolving into something strange, something familiar to him and perhaps even into something resembling a friendship. He liked to at first think of Ivan's attentiveness as a mere childish fancy and he pretend to be annoyed by it, but really he could only fool himself but so long. After all he-

"Ouch!"

Yao froze, brought out of his contemplation, and lifted his foot startled by the sudden noise. He moved his foot and glanced down. There was young Feliciano with his face scrunched up. The Italian was buried shoulders deep in the sand with only his head sticking out!

"Alfred said he was going to come back, ve... but the sun has gone down," he said weakly.

"OMG!"

Yao promptly dropped to his knees and started frantically digging in the sand to get Feliciano out.

-to be continued-


	7. S'Mores and Stories

"Don't worry, Feliciano! I'll save you!" Yao assured Feliciano as he dug into the sand to free the Italian.

**cue Hetalia title card and music**

Feliciano and an exhausted Yao came walking up to the group.

"Hey guys just in time!" Alfred said loudly waving at the two. "We have donuts!"

"Yay!" Feliciano squealed.

He came running even faster towards where the others were seated on nicely placed logs.

The 4 logs were set around in a square formation. Alfred, Arthur and Francis were already seated on one. The British blonde was between the other two. Kiku and Ivan were seated across from each other on opposite logs. In the middle crouched Gilbert and Ludwig working on starting a campfire.

"Where have you two been?" Arthur asked once the pair came closer.

"I found this kid buried in the sand!" Yao explained.

Feliciano added, "The tide was coming in, but Yao saved me."

Realization dawned on Alfred's face.

"Ah, right, about that- Sorry, dude."

"You Git!" bristled Arthur, swatting the young American on the shoulder. "Don't be so forgetful."

Alfred just laughed as if unaffected by Arthur's scolding. Francis just hook his head at the pair, looking on with a knowing smile.

"Anyway, you two should have a seat," invited Kiku from where he sat on a nearby log.

"OK!" Feliciano beamed plopping down beside him.

Yao debated between sitting on the empty log or beside Ivan, but decided Gilbert would probably want to sit beside his brother and made his way towards the Russian. He settled down beside Ivan who stared at him openly.

"What?" he asked, a bit unnerved by Ivan's gaze.

Ivan outstretched his hand and on his palm laid two beautiful clam shells. One was a brilliant red, the other a soft shimmering lavender.

"One for me, and one for you," Ivan said.

"Oh?" Yao asked.

He hesitated before reaching out to grab one of the shells. He choose the purple one.

"Huh?" Ivan seemed puzzled. "I was certain you'd choose the red one."

Yao held the purple one in between his fingers and looked up at Ivan, "What? But I think this one is so pretty, like your eyes."

Yao began to blush realizing what he just said.

"N,not that I think you're pretty or- not that you're not pretty but-"

Ivan just chuckled and smiled, cutting off Yao's attempt to over-correct.

"In Russia red is considered the most beautiful of all colors. It's passionate and strong, yet delicate and sensual, like you."

Yao was surprised by that and looked down again at the red shell still in Ivan's hand, comparing it to the purple one held in his fingers. He brought the purple shell closer to his chest.

"In China, purple is a color of awareness and strength. I think it suits you too. I want to keep this one. You keep the red."

"OK," Ivan said with a song in his voice. "And I'll always think of you."

Yao did his best to ignore the feeling of his belly doing flips at how cute Ivan was being and looked away. It was safer to focus on Gilbert's attempt at a fire.

_**China's voice: "Hetalia!"** _

On the other log, Alfred was still eating away at his box of donuts.

"It's disgusting watching you stuff your face like that," Arthur scoffed.

"What? I offered you some and you refused," Alfred replied in the middle of eating another powdered confection.

Arthur crossed his arms, "How much did you manage to put away in that maw of yours today?"

"Huh? Well, I ate the snacks we brought in the cooler, then after Frisbee, Kiku and I got burgers. We separated after that but I saw all you can eat pancakes so I got that for dinner, then I bought these donuts and came back here."

"That's rather impressive," Francis noted with amazement in his voice.

"I'm a growing boy," was Alfred's reply.

He said it a little too proudly.

"Maybe you should enter a pie eating contest," chimed in Feliciano from the other log.

"Don't encourage him," said Arthur. "And besides, all you seem to eat is junk. Don't you ever put anything substantial in that over gown body of yours?"

"Like what?"

"Like something not beige or brown?" scoffed the British student.

Alfred shrugged, "Well, why don't you make me something then?"

Arthur was surprised by the turn in conversation, "Huh?"

"I don't think you'd want that," warned Francis.

"Nonsense, if the boy wants to try my cooking, then so be it," Arthur cut him off.

Alfred nodded with eyes sparkling, "Yeah, Francis! Arthur's good at everything! Why wouldn't he be good at cooking too?"

"Well, I'm not good at everything, per say, but I do get by," replied Arthur with false humility.

"I hope you have a stomach of iron," Francis said clicking his tongue at poor, oblivious and smiley Alfred.

"Can it, Frog!"

"The awesome me has done it again!" interjected Gilbert cutting through all of the conversations.

The German caretaker jumped up and cheered as Ludwig crossed his arms to admire he and his brother's handy work. Their triangle of firewood had caught aflame and a nice fire was beginning to burn.

"How about that, boys!" Gilbert said, looking around at everyone.

"Wow, you're great, Gilbert!" Feliciano cheered.

Beside him Kiku clapped respectfully and of course Alfred hooped and hollered. Ludwig and Gilbert seated themselves on the log across from the French-American-English trio.

"Not bad, Gilbert. It only took you like a million hours," taunted the American.

"Like you could do better," replied the silver haired man.

"I could! Just pour some farm diesel on it and WOOSH!"

The bespectacled blonde mimicked a large fire with his arms.

"So what are we going to do now that the fire's started?" Yao asked.

"I saw on the television, American teenagers are telling the ghostly stories around a night fire," Ivan said.

"Yes, in my country too we tell ghost stories in the summer. The chills and frights help keep away the humid summer heat," nodded Kiku.

"Yeah, but then what keeps away the ghosts?" Feliciano asked with a worried expression.

"They're merely stories," replied the Japanese student.

"Ghost stories around a camp fire are an American tradition," confirmed Alfred. "But there is something even more traditional around a campfire."

"What's that?" asked Yao.

Alfred reached behind him and pulled out a grocery store bag of chocolate, graham crackers and marshmallows!

"S'mores!"

_**America's voice: "Hetalia!"** _

Everyone eagerly watched as Alfred demonstrated how to perfectly roast a marshmallow on a stick. He then passed them around to everyone and let them try.

"They key is to keep rotating it and holding it a perfect distance away from the fire. Then it becomes perfectly golden and plump!" coached Alfred as various others tried.

"Mine burned!" Arthur cried, quite alarmed as his entire marshmallow caught fire and then quickly became a black encrusted thing. It fell off the stick.

Francis clicked his tongue, "Alfred, it isn't too late to deny that meal."

"Shut up!" Arthur bristled.

Ivan finished roasting his marshmallow and Yao helped him pull it from the skewer by sandwiching it between the crackers and chocolate. It looked so gooey and delicious. Ivan took it and bit into the confection.

"How is it?" asked Alfred expectantly.

"It's good!" replied Ivan.

"It's a snack and activity rolled into one! The best kind of activity!" said Alfred.

Meanwhile Ludwig was taking great care with his marshmallow. It had grown quite plump and swollen.

"Woah, Ludwig that's mighty impressive," complimented Alfred.

"Ve, Ludwig! Roast mine!" begged Feliciano upon seeing it.

"If you think that's impressive, take a look at this!" exclaimed Gilbert.

He revealed his marshmallow which was swollen to more than twice the size.

"Holy shit!" gasped Alfred. "Dude! Be careful! That thing's going to fall right off your stick!"

"It's too awesome to fall!" cackled Gilbert as he turned his marshmallow some more.

Unfortunately it also proceeded to slide right off his skewer and into the flame. Alfred burst into laughter.

_**Prussia's disappointed because of the marshmallow falling voice: "Hetalia!"** _

"Now is it scary story time?" asked Francis as the last of his s'more was finished off.

"Sure! I know just the story!" Alfred exclaimed.

"I hope it's good!" Feliciano chimed.

"Kesese, I doubt it. Alfred's a big weenie," teased Gilbert.

"No way! I can tell a mean spooky story! Mattie and I would do it all the time at camp!" assured Alfred.

"I have a spooky story to tell too," smiled Ivan.

"Right, not scarier than mine, I bet!" Alfred challenged. "I'll go first."

Alfred cleared his throat and looked around onto everyone's face. All of their attention was trained on him.

"This story takes place nearby. On I-95 to be exact. It was in the middle of the night and a girl, not much older than any of the people sitting here at this campfire, was driving alone. In fact, she was a university student just like all of you driving from Charleston all the way to visit her family up in New Jersey. It was around 1 AM when it starts raining, plus she realizes she's running low on gas."

A little gasp issued from Feliciano's mouth.

Alfred continued, "She continues driving when she sees a sign saying there's a gas station 3 miles ahead. She sighs with relief. But when she gets there it's a super run down old, deserted looking family owned gas station."

"She should just keep driving!" Yao said.

"And risk breaking down on the interstate?" Kiku asked. "That wouldn't be wise."

"And stopping there is?" countered the Chinese grad student.

Alfred shook his head, "Well, as she pulled in she's of course scared to stop. But she eventually pulls up to the pump anyway. As she pulls in a man with a disfigured face comes running out in the heavy rain towards her car."

"The station's self serve?" Francis questioned.

He was shushed by Arthur and Alfred kept on with the tale.

"He puts the pump in her tank and asks for her credit card. She hands it to him and he runs back into the building."

"She should speed off now!" Feliciano suggested.

"She can't leave her card behind," Ludwig replied.

"She should have paid with cash!" the Italian fired back.

Alfred continued on, "After a few seconds the man came back out and told her that she needs to come in. There was a problem with her card. She follows him into the building and when she gets inside... the man GRABS HER ARM!"

He reached out and grabbed Arthur who shrieked.

"She hit him over the head with the gas can on the counter and ran back to her car through the rain!"

Alfred was speaking quickly and urgently to how the excitement of the girl.

"She got back into the car and sped off. All the while the disfigured man from the gas station is screaming after her!"

"She got away!" cheered Feliciano.

Alfred smirked knowingly and continued on.

"After driving a few miles she starts to relax and turns on the radio. She looks in her rear view mirror and... she sees someone pop up in the backseat wielding an ax above their head!"

There was a collective gasp from the group.

"It's the last thing she ever sees. The old man at the gas station was trying to warn her."

"Oh my god," Yao said.

Ludwig nodded gravely, "This is why we shouldn't judge on appearances."

"Not bad," Gilbert said to Alfred. "But I can do better."

"I dare you to try," Alfred encouraged the groundskeeper.

"I have one too," reminded Ivan.

He was ignored.

"So, mine takes place in Germany! Let's see... how should I start this...," mused Gilbert.

"Oh get on with it," jeered Arthur.

"Kesese, you can't rush genius," was the German's response. "Anyway."

He cleared his throat and then truly began.

"Ever since Ludwig was a little boy-"

"Hey!" Ludwig protested.

"Can I please tell my story in peace?" countered the older German.

"Just let him use your name, dear," Francis said waving the young teen's concern away. "It's cute."

"Thank you, Francis. Anyway, as I was saying- Ever since Ludwig was a boy, he always loved his dog."

Chuckles were had around the fire as Ludwig went red in embarrassment.

"Whenever Ludwig got scared he would put his hand under the bed and the dog would lick his hand and comfort him. One day, when Ludwig was 14 his parents and awesome brother went out for the night. They felt like Ludwig was old enough to be left home alone. The family left at 8, and after an hour of watching TV Ludwig went upstairs to go to bed. He was kind of scared sleeping all alone in the house and when he heard a whimpering sound, almost like a puppy, he stuck his hand under the bed and-"

He made slurping sound.

"Lick! Ludwig's hand was licked. He tried to sleep when he heard the sound again. He stuck his hand under the bed and it was licked."

"I'm scared for the doggie!" commented Feliciano.

"Finally he was able to fall asleep. He woke up the next morning to the sound of his dog barking outside!"

Alfred gasped loudly.

Gilbert chuckled, "That's right. The dog had been outside ALL NIGHT LONG!"

"Ahh!" Alfred turned and hugged Arthur who did nothing to push him off.

"How did you like that, huh?" Gilbert said looking around at everyone.

Alfred let go of Arthur and scoffed, "Not bad. I'll give you that."

"It gave me chills," agreed Kiku with a nod.

"Why did you use my name?" lamented Ludwig off to the side.

"Can I tell mine now?" asked Ivan.

"Sure, this better be good," Alfred said.

"Oh it will be," said Ivan with confidence.

There was silence as Ivan waited for everyone to get settled down. When the large Russian man began to speak his tone was serous and solemn, perfect for a scary story. His eyes dancing in the flames of the fire held everyone's fast attention.

"Once there was woman. She had baby but couldn't afford to take care of it on her own. One day she fastened a blue baby bonnet on it's head and two miles from her house carried it. There she left the baby deep in the woods. She began her long walk home. As she is walking home she heard small voice in the wind behind her."

Everyone was so engaged in the story. Not a single eye strayed from Ivan's face.

Ivan made a creepy voice, "'Blue Baby Bonnet One Mile Away'"

Alfred scooted closer to Arthur in fear.

"She looked behind but there was no sign of anyone around. She continued on. When she reached home she heard it again."

Again Ivan made the voice.

"Baby Blue Bonnet One Mile Away."

Kiku and Yao both shuddered. Kiku tightened his summer jacket around him and crossed his arms, learning forward to watch Ivan more intently.

"The woman closed and latched the door behind her. She goes into her living room and sits to read. As she is reading the book the voice comes again... 'Baby Blue Bonnet, Coming Up the Driveway.'"

Alfred and Arthur's hands clasped together.

"She runs upstairs and closes the door. She sits on her bed and waits..."

Ivan paused for a long while before uttering again in that terrible voice.

"Baby Blue Bonnet... Coming Up the Stairs."

A whimper came from somewhere among the group. They waited in anticipation as Ivan continued.

"She got up and went under the bed...'Blue. Baby. BOOOO!'"

"AHHH!" Alfred hopped up and hid behind Francis this time.

"Wow! Ivan!" Feliciano cheered clapping happily.

"That was great story telling," complimented Kiku looking a bit frightened as well.

"You had us with that one," Gilbert agreed.

Ivan blushed from the praise. Alfred stood from his hiding spot behind Francis.

"Whew, that was pretty cool, guys! But now it's a bit too spooky to drive home, don't you think?" he asked.

"Well, what did you have in mind then?" asked Ludwig.

"How about...," he then lifted up another plastic grocery bag with chocolate, graham crackers and chocolate. "Another round of s'mores!"

"Don't you ever stop thinking of food!?" Arthur asked snatching the bag from the youth's hands.

"Ha! Ha! Ha!"

-to be continued-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think it is safe to say this is USUK and Rochu LOL thanks everyone for reading~


End file.
